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Rating:  - another dystopia
In Peircy's future world, the small Jewish town is threatened by the large corporate enclave. Peircy un-subtley compares this with the Jewish ghetto in Prague. Enter Yod, a cyborg (and the future's version of the golem) to protect the town. With a suspenseful plot and well-developed characters, this book is an enjoyable read.
Rating: - More than interesting and well-written...
I read this text for a Science Fiction course I took at UCLA. After reading LeGuin, Stephenson and Benford, this one was my favorite. I couldn't put the book down-- I easily became attached to the memorable characters and didn't want the story to end. This was one of those books where I wished that it wasn't just a book....
Rating:  - Body Of Glass under a new title
This is yet another book proving Marge Piercy as a great novelist living in our times. Though all the characters or the subjects in this book may not be likeable, and may be too honestly portrayed for some, Ms. Piercy's skill with English and description cannot but impress the reader.
Rating: - Ambivalent you won't be...
I originally read this book as a required college text in modern literature. I've since lost the book but plan on buying a replacement copy.
I've read all 14 of the previous reviews and I have to agree with them all. Yes, feminism and an arguement against corporate - political states and male - dominated societies are present in this book. True as well that there are unfavorable stereotypes in the novel. The novel still has great merit.
At its best, "He, She and It" is a thought provoking parable about the consequences of the paths we may find ourselves on. At its worst, it's a new addition to the cyberpunk genre which is far better than anything Gibson has produced to date. Whether you agree with the views expressed in the novel or not (I personally don't), the story is still an entertaining and well-written diversion.
Rating: - State-of-the-art humanity
Piercy's consolidated reputation as a major American writer rests not only on her lucid verbal skills. Her uncanny ability to extrapolate significant future trends from contemporary social and cultural phenomena is a prominent facet of her work, although perhaps not since "Woman on the Edge of Tme" has she honed her cutting edges so wickedly sharp. In this complex, potentially controversial novel she draws on multinational corporations, bionics and organ piracy, post-militant feminism, drastic pollution of the environment, the proliferation of the Internet, hackers, the development of synthetic foods, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality entertainment to imagine the Earth of 2050 and, contriving an ominously plausible background for a searching story, poses numerous unsettling questions, of which the most provocative is: what constitutes a human being? For a brilliant male scientist has unlawfully built a cyborg in human form, and an equally brilliant female scientist has so sapiently programmed its personality that her granddaughter Shira falls inevitably in love with Yod, the tenth experimental model in the series, who is just what she feels a man should be. Yod's experiences are deftly reflected in a cautionary retelling of the kabbalistic legend of a Golem crudely created in Prague in 1600 to protect the Jewish ghetto, just as Yod has been made as a defense weapon for the data-base of a beleaguered free community in Piercy's disquieting next-generation world where technology marks the watershed between haves and have-nots.
"He, She, and It" will intrigue mature readers with speculative minds who also enjoy dextrous plotting, an unusual setting, and a dynamic story rife with action, original characters, and profound moral conflict.
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